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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25573297">breaking the silence</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideysrogers/pseuds/spideysrogers'>spideysrogers</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the compound chronicles [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Domestic Avengers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Post-snap</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:48:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>871</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25573297</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideysrogers/pseuds/spideysrogers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>five lonely years in the tower have left natasha and y/n living in near silence. y/n decides she misses the music. natasha decides she misses dancing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Natasha Romanov (Marvel) &amp; Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the compound chronicles [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853386</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>breaking the silence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>again, taken from my tumblr! although i might post my new additions here instead :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <strong>2021</strong>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>they haven’t heard music in a long time. the world is quiet without half its population and y/n misses the murmurs outside the window and the buskers in the street and the party music from the student accomodation after 12am. the world is silent, the tower is empty and, as much as she tries to pretend it isn’t, the team is gone. </p><p>despite their attempts to look past it, her and nat are lonely in the tower. life consists of locating agents and checking in with what is left of the team and steve’s random visits every week or so. y/n feels constantly on edge. natasha seems like her mind has gone into overdrive. </p><p>the piano in y/n’s room hasn’t been played in a very long time. tony had thought it nice to put one there for her when she moved into the tower, almost like a reminder of home. but no one has seen tony for years. it used to be that she didn’t have time to make music. now, music just doesn’t seem appropriate.</p><p>but today is exactly five years since the snap and natasha is still in bed and y/n finds herself sat at the piano, dancing her fingers along the dusty keys. it’s not quite a full song - a short, one-handed melody to exercise her hands. she hasn’t played in so long.</p><p>“y’know, i don’t actually think I’ve ever seen you play that.” natasha is smirking at her from the doorway. “i was starting to think it’s just decorative.”</p><p>y/n chuckles, “i can assure you I know how to play it.” she turns back to the keys, smiling, “i taught myself when i was in high school. i don’t remember the last time i played.”</p><p>nat’s smile turns sad and she walks over, giving the instrument a proper look for the first time, “i must admit, i don’t exactly… appreciate the arts as much as used to.”</p><p>“when was the last time you danced?” <em>y/n</em> <em>  knows this is dangerous territory. </em></p><p>natasha’s eyes glaze over, a slight grimace creeping onto her face. she takes a breath, shakes her head, “not since the red room.”</p><p>“brings it all back?” she takes her silence as a yes. “i, um, i think maybe it could be good for you to dance again.” natasha looks like she might hit her, so she quickly expands, “i know it brings back some awful stuff for you, i understand. but… maybe, if you create some happier memories that you can associate with it, you might not see dancing as such a bad thing.” she shrugs, “it might even help you. y’know, like, cheering you up.”</p><p>natasha seems unconvinced. she doesn’t understand how y/n can always seem to find the bright side of everything. despite the state their world is in even years later, she is still finding ways to keep her friend smiling: coffee waiting in the pot when she wakes up, always buying her favourite gummies with the groceries - y/n is doing everything she can to make sure her and nat’s life in the tower is as happy as it can be. nat can only admire her.</p><p>“you don’t have to,” y/n assures her, “i’m not gonna force your feet into your pointe shoes. but I do think it could help.” she grins, “i could play for you so you have a rhythm to follow.”</p><p>natasha ponders for a moment before shrugging, “i, um, i don’t even think i still have them-”</p><p>“they’re in your closet, romanoff, don’t bullshit me.”</p><p>natasha chuckes, shakes her head and leaves y/n’s room. y/n’s left on her own for a while, playing out another melody and humming along, and she becomes fairly certain that her friend isn’t coming back. but, to her surprise, natasha returns a few minutes later wearing a pair of ribboned ballet shoes (which albeit look slightly strange with her hoodie and sweatpants). </p><p>y/n smiles, nods, “you gonna show me some moves, red?”</p><p>“shut up.” she rolls her eyes, but the smile is still there. </p><p>natasha moves to the window, leans against the windowsill with a rather distant smile. y/n turns back to the keys. she begins to play out another melody - one of the few full songs she remembers - and sings along quietly despite the croak of her long unused singing voice. around the end of the first chorus, she finds natasha has started to move.</p><p>y/n has never seen her look so elegant; she thought natasha’s combat skills were meticulous, but her dancing is so <em> diligent </em> , so <em> dextrous </em>. she is magnificent. her movements are not so much advanced: she hasn’t danced in years and is only just finding her feet again, but she holds herself so gracefully and with such well-crafted action, y/n can’t help but grin.</p><p>she reluctantly brings her song to an end after adding in three extra choruses, still marvelling at the woman swaying around her room. natasha ends her sequence, stopping to lean against the wall with a breathless laugh of what appears to be disbelief.</p><p>“you’re pretty good, red.”</p><p>she smiles, “you’re pretty good yourself.”</p><p>natasha thinks she’ll start dancing more often.</p>
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